A Day at the Beach

We only had three days of school left and only had five students left in my class. The rest departed early. One of the mothers and I decided to take those five for a day out at the beach (without the little ones which is a bid deal to them). Harris, again, at a beach so beautiful it would be lined with hotels if the weather encouraged sunning and swimming, which it doesn't. Just as well! Its a shame to spoil such a place with commerce.

See those three girls climbing the hill...in their bare feet. They really were allowed to do whatever they wanted - EXCEPT get wet above the knees (see below for consequences). 

Mhm. Guess who was wet to his chest ten minutes after arriving. Remove trousers; wear towel rest of day. I'm afraid he thought it was worth it. Oh, well, we tried.

Off to build sandcastles.

Every day of school should be like this. Work in the morning, go outside all afternoon. 

With one more week on Lewis I still have things I'd like to show you. Wonder what happens to blogs once their purpose if fulfilled? Will it just stay in cyber space? I don't know if I have the heart to terminate it! I'll think about that another day. 

Day 2 in Harris

And on the second day we had some time around on of the lochs looking for otters (disappointing) and other wildlife. We saw...

crab remains,

seaweed, 

                  wildflowers and much more.

Meanwhile...the older class went coasteering. They loved that as much if not more than kayaking the day before! They had to don two wet suits, life vests, helmets, socks, shoes and shorts. They were exhausted before they set off, but I think it was all worth it!

Yes, she has two suits on and still very slim!

Ewww! Putting wet shoes on is not fun.

Dads gearing up again! 

The shorts didn't have to be pretty, just on their bodies...still not sure why. Someone said something about the shorts protecting the wet suits when they had to climb on the rocks. Not sure these particular shorts will do the job!

Harris is a lovely even in clouds and mist. Thanks to the Scaladale Centre for a comfortable place to stay and for all the activities. 

Overnight trip to Harris!

The children have enjoyed a great overnight trip down to an outdoor centre in Harris. Below are some photos of the some of the children and the stern beauty of the land down on the south part of the island.

The older ones went kayaking - wet suits, life jackets, helmets. The one on the right is the other at school, Linda.

Two of the dads dressed and ready for some paddling!!

The younger ones went on a climb!

I'm fascinated by all of the different types of moss that grow here. This one is very soft - several inches think and would make a very comfortable bed! As long as it's dry. It looks spikey, but isn't at all.

Don't know the name (again), but the land is slowly being covered with yellow, pink and purple flowers this time of year. 

Day 2 in the next post!

Slipping through my fingers

Three weeks and a half weeks. I've found it hard to leave here after a week's visit. What's going to happen to me when I try to say good-bye this time?

Last Saturday while I was down watching and learning about the care and clipping of sheep my little seven year old friend said, "I'm gonna miss you when you go." I took a deep breath and got out, "I'm gonna miss you, too." Come on! I'm sure there's no crying allowed (or aloud) at the fank!!! That was a close one.

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I have a very promising writer in my class and she wrote something today that cracked me up! Their assignment was to write a short newspaper article (imaginary) using a list of words they'd brainstormed earlier. In this particular article, the reporter had been investigating a restaurant because some people had complained of illness after being there. The reporter noticed one cook acting suspiciously and crept up behind her only to find that, sure enough, there at the cook's station sat a bottle labeled, "Food Poisoning!" Is it just me or doesn't that strike you funny?!

Here are some notebooks that they covered in Harris Tweed as part of our unit on that topic this term.

Finally, here's a look at 11pm. I could really get used to this. I don't know about getting used to the darkness at the other end of the year!

Vocab and Veggies

I spent the day Saturday with my friends up on the northern tip of the island in their "plot" where they plant vegetables, not their dearly departed. That's garden to us. Their garden is our yard. Yard in England is our driveway.

Skip is the dump.
Sports -  a strip is the team's uniform.
Pavement is the sidewalk.
Oddly enough..."Scottish" pancakes are exactly like American ones.

Okay, back to the plot. Here are some shots of the garden, the men working in it. My friend, Anne, and I also did do some work, but will opt not to be in the photos.

I also followed the flock down the croft to the fank (sorry, no idea what it is in America, closest I can think of is a corral for sheep) and saw them being dosed and a few were sheared - with big scissory shears, not electric!!

On with the show...

Lots of wind protection has to go up.

Off to the fank go the sheep, the shepherd, two nephews and me.

I took many, many more photos of all of the above but on my friend's camera. So go on over to Home School on the Croft to see more details of the day. 

And a sunset

And on a different note...blanket day at school last week!